Girl injured after being bitten multiple times by pit bull in Fortuna

A 17-year-old girl is recovering from a pit bull attack following an incident on Tuesday in Fortuna.

Family members say a 17-year-old high school student was going to talk to an acquaintance to settle an ongoing argument at the 3400 block of School Street in Fortuna. The father says the argument was over one girl making fun of his daughter for a video of her brother being beaten up by a group of kids.

"She said I wanted to go over there and tell her, 'Hey, just back up off of me and my brother.' She invited me over. I knocked on the door. The girl head butted me dad. I defended myself. We were talking about fighting and stuff but I didn't go over there to fight, dad," said Kenneth Thomas, the dog bite victim’s father.

But police say the two girls had been setting up a fight for sometime this week, but then one of the girls went to the other one’s house to assault her.

"Both of them had been in communication. We have documentation of that communication. They were agreeing to meet and fight…The witnesses on scene confirmed the statements of the dog owner that the juvenile that showed up at the residence showed up to fight and attacked the juvenile at her home in the driveway area and then a mutual fight ensued between the two of them," said Lt. Eberhardt.

It was at that point police say the pit bull defended its owner and bit the girl multiple times on her head and upper body. But the girl’s father says the dog was prompted to attack.

"She got up and she said, 'Kill her! Kill her! Grab her by the throat! Kill her! And the dog just started eating my daughter, just started eating chunks out of her," said Thomas.

"Somebody shows up to your house to fight and is aggressive. It's unfortunate someone was ultimately bit by the dog but she did go there to assault the other girl and cause a problem," said Lt. Eberhardt.

Thomas says authorities need to put the dog down.

"To see my daughter tormented, and nobody do anything about it, who wants to see their kid get eat up by a dog? When I went to the hospital I thought she was dying," Thomas said.

Police say the investigation is still underway and action could be taken against either girl or the pit bull. The pit bull is currently being quarantined and checked for proper vaccinations and registration.

The girl who was bitten was released from Redwood Memorial Hospital at 1 a.m. on Wednesday. She had to get multiple staples in her head.